RFG Advisory LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM)

RFG Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM - Free Report) by 222.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,146 shares of the restaurant operator's stock after buying an additional 4,932 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC's holdings in Yum! Brands were worth $959,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Yum! Brands by 2.7% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 11,766 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,559,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Yum! Brands by 70.8% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 10,853 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,438,000 after buying an additional 4,499 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Yum! Brands in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,645,000. MBB Public Markets I LLC raised its stake in Yum! Brands by 996.1% during the 2nd quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 20,300 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $2,689,000 after acquiring an additional 18,448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Yum! Brands by 3.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,164,159 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $419,123,000 after acquiring an additional 104,328 shares during the last quarter. 82.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Yum! Brands news, CEO David W. Gibbs sold 7,059 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.94, for a total value of $959,600.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 149,385 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,307,396.90. This represents a 4.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Yum! Brands Price Performance

NYSE YUM traded up $2.53 on Monday, hitting $130.79. 2,174,685 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,042,136. The firm has a market cap of $36.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.11. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $132.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.59. Yum! Brands, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $122.13 and a fifty-two week high of $143.20.

Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The restaurant operator reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Yum! Brands had a negative return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 21.13%. The company's revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Yum! Brands, Inc. will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Yum! Brands Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.67 dividend. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Yum! Brands's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Yum! Brands in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Yum! Brands from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Yum! Brands from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Yum! Brands from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $141.00 price target (down previously from $153.00) on shares of Yum! Brands in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $144.89.

Yum! Brands Profile

Yum! Brands, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, operates, and franchises quick service restaurants worldwide. The company operates through the KFC Division, the Taco Bell Division, the Pizza Hut Division, and the Habit Burger Grill Division segments. It also operates restaurants under the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill brands, which specialize in chicken, pizza, made-to-order chargrilled burgers, sandwiches, Mexican-style food categories, and other food products.